New York, USA (CNN) – US authorities have released convicted Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout as part of a prisoner exchange deal for American basketball player Brittney Griner, who is being held in Russia.
Bot, dubbed “the merchant of death” by prosecutors during the trial, is a former Soviet military officer who was serving a 25-year prison sentence in the United States for conspiring to kill Americans, acquiring and exporting anti-aircraft missiles, and providing material support to a terrorist organization.
The Russian businessman, who speaks 6 languages, was captured in a 2008 operation led by US anti-drug agents in Thailand, posing as the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, better known as the FARC. He was eventually extradited to the US in 2010 after a lengthy court process. .
The bot’s history in the arms trade extends much further than that. He has been accused of assembling a fleet of cargo planes to transport military-grade weapons to conflict zones around the world since the 1990s, fueling bloody conflicts in regions from Liberia to Sierra Leone and Afghanistan.
Allegations of smuggling activities in Liberia led US authorities to freeze Bout’s assets in America in 2004 and block any money transfers from America.